This
chapter is thought by some to be the darkest part of all this prophecy: it
is very probable that the things contained in it are not yet accomplished;
and therefore it is the wiser way to content ourselves with general
observations, rather than to be positive and particular in our explications
of it. Here we have an account, I. Of the binding of Satan for a thousand
years, ver. 1-3. II. The reign of the saints with Christ for the same time,
ver. 4-6. III. Of the loosing of Satan, and the conflict of the church with
Gog and Magog, ver. 7-10. IV. Of the day of judgment, ver. 11, &c.
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The Binding of Satan.
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A. D. 95.
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1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven,
having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and
Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the
bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:
and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw
thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I
saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and
for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his
image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in
their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of
the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured
them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake
of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
We have here, I. A prophecy of the binding of Satan for a certain
term of time, in which he should have much less power and the church much
more peace than before. The power of Satan was broken in part by the setting
up of the gospel kingdom in the world; it was further reduced by the
empire's becoming Christian; it was yet further broken by the downfall of
the mystical Babylon; but still this serpent had many heads, and, when one
is wounded, another has life remaining in it. Here we have a further
limitation and diminution of his power. Observe, 1. To whom this work of
binding Satan is committed--to an angel from heaven. It is very
probable that this angel is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ; the
description of him will hardly agree with any other. He is one who has power
to bind the strong man armed, to cast him out, and to spoil his goods;
and therefore must be stronger than he. 2. The means he makes use of in this
work: he has a chain and a key, a great chain to bind Satan,
and the key of the prison in which he was to be confined. Christ
never wants proper powers and instruments to break the power of Satan, for
he has the powers of heaven and the keys of hell. 3. The execution of this
work, v. 2, 3. (1.) He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the devil, and Satan. Neither the strength of the dragon, nor
the subtlety of the serpent, was sufficient to rescue him out of the hands
of Christ; he caught hold, and kept his hold. And, (2.) He cast him into
the bottomless pit, cast him down with force, and with a just vengeance,
to his own place and prison, from which he had been permitted to break out,
and disturb the churches, and deceive the nations; now he is brought back to
that prison, and there laid in chains. (3.) He is shut up, and a seal set
upon him. Christ shuts, and none can open; he shuts by his power, seals
by his authority; and his lock and seal even the devils themselves cannot
break open. (4.) We have the term of this confinement of Satan--a
thousand years, after which he was to be loosed again for a
little season. The church should have a considerable time of peace and
prosperity, but all her trials were not yet over.
II. An account of the reign of the saints for the same space of time in
which Satan continued bound (v. 4-6), and here observe,
1. Who those were that received such honour--those who had suffered for
Christ, and all who had faithfully adhered to him, not receiving the mark of
the beast, nor worshipping his image; all who had kept themselves clear of
pagan and papal idolatry.
2. The honour bestowed upon them. (1.) They were raised from the dead, and
restored to life. This may be taken either literally or figuratively; they
were in a civil and political sense dead, and had a political resurrection;
their liberties and privileges were revived and restored. (2.) Thrones,
and power of judgment, were given to them; they were possessed of
great honour, and interest, and authority, I suppose rather of a spiritual
than of a secular nature. (3.) They reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Those who suffer with Christ shall reign with Christ; they shall reign with
him in his spiritual and heavenly kingdom, in a glorious conformity to him
in wisdom, righteousness, and holiness, beyond what had been known before in
the world. This is called the first resurrection, which none but
those who have served Christ and suffered for him shall be favoured with. As
for the wicked, they shall not be raised up and restored to their power
again, till Satan be let loose; this may be called a resurrection, as the
conversion of the Jews is said to be life from the dead.
3. The happiness of these servants of God is declared. (1.) They are blessed
and holy, v. 6. None can be blessed but those that are holy; and
all that are holy shall be blessed. These were holy as a sort of
first-fruits to God in this spiritual resurrection, and as such blessed by
him. (2.) They are secured from the power of the second death. We know
something of what the first death is, and it is awful; but we know not what
this second death is. It must be much more dreadful; it is the death of the
soul, eternal separation from God. The Lord grant we may never know what it
is by experience. Those who have had experience of a spiritual resurrection
are saved from the power of the second death.
III. An account of the return of the church's troubles, and another mighty
conflict, very sharp, but short and decisive. Observe, 1. The restraints
laid for a long time on Satan are at length taken off. While this world
lasts, Satan's power in it will not be wholly destroyed; it may be limited
and lessened, but he will have something still to do for the disturbance of
the people of God. 2. No sooner is Satan let loose than he falls to his old
work, deceiving the nations, and so stirring them up to make a war
with the saints and servants of God, which they would never do if he had not
first deceived them. They are deceived both as to the cause they engage in
(they believe it to be a good cause when it is indeed a very bad one), and
as to the issue: they expect to be successful, but are sure to lose the day.
3. His last efforts seem to be the greatest. The power now permitted to him
seems to be more unlimited than before. He had now liberty to beat up for
his volunteers in all the four quarters of the earth, and he raised a
mighty army, the number of which was as the sand of the sea, v.
8. 4. We have the names of the principal commanders in this army under the
dragon--Gog and Magog. We need not be too inquisitive as to what
particular powers are meant by these names, since the army was gathered from
all parts of the world. These names are found in other parts of scripture. Magog
we read of in Gen. x. 2. He was one of the sons of Japheth, and peopled the
country called Syria, from which his descendants spread into many
other parts. Of Gog and Magog together we only read in Ezek. xxxviii.
2, a prophecy whence this in Revelation borrows many of its images. 5. We
have the march and military disposition of this formidable army (v.
9): They went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of
the saints about, and the beloved city, that is, the spiritual
Jerusalem, in which the most precious interests of the people of God are
lodged, and therefore to them a beloved city. The army of the saints is
described as drawn forth out of the city, and lying under the walls of it,
to defend it; they were encamped about Jerusalem: but the army of the enemy
was so much superior to that of the church that they compassed them and
their city about. 6. You have an account of the battle, and the issue of
this war: Fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured the enemy.
Thus the ruin of Gog and Magog is foretold (Ezek. xxxviii. 22), I
will rain upon him and upon his bands an overflowing rain, and great
hailstones, and fire and brimstone. God would, in an extraordinary and
more immediate manner, fight this last and decisive battle for his people,
that the victory might be complete and the glory redound to himself. 7. The
doom and punishment of the grand enemy, the devil: he is now cast
into hell, with his two great officers, the beast and the false prophet,
tyranny and idolatry, and that not for any term of time, but to be there tormented
night and day, for ever and ever.
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The Universal Judgment.
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A. D. 95.
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11 And I saw a great white throne, and him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small
and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, according to their
works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell
were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire.
The utter destruction of the devil's kingdom very properly leads to an
account of the day of judgment, which will determine every man's everlasting
state; and we may be assured there will be a judgment when we see the
prince of this world is judged, John xvi. 11. This will be a great day, the
great day, when all shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The
Lord help us firmly to believe this doctrine of the judgment to come. It is
a doctrine that made Felix tremble. Here we have a description of it, where
observe, 1. We behold the throne, and tribunal of judgment, great
and white, very glorious and perfectly just and righteous. The
throne of iniquity, that establishes wickedness by a law, has no
fellowship with this righteous throne and tribunal. 2. The appearance of the
Judge, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who then puts on such majesty and
terror that the earth and the heaven flee from his face, and there is no
place found for them; there is a dissolution of the whole frame of
nature, 2 Pet. iii. 10. 3. The persons to be judged (v. 12): The
dead, small and great; that is, young and old, low and high, poor and
rich. None are so mean but they have some talents to account for, and none
so great as to avoid the jurisdiction of this court; not only those that are
found alive at the coming of Christ, but all who have died before; the grave
shall surrender the bodies of men, hell shall surrender the souls of the
wicked, the sea shall surrender the many who seemed to have been lost in it.
4. The rule of judgment settled: The books were opened. What books?
The books of God's omniscience, who is greater than our consciences, and
knows all things (there is a book of remembrance with him both for good and
bad); and the book of the sinner's conscience, which, though formerly
secret, will now be opened. And another book shall be opened--the
book of the scriptures, the statute-book of heaven, the rule of life. This
book is opened as containing the law, the touchstone by which the hearts and
lives of men are to be tried. This book determines matter of right; the
other books give evidence of matters of fact. Some, by the other book,
called the book of life, understand the book of God's eternal
counsels; but that does not seem to belong to the affair of judgment: in
eternal election God does not act judicially, but with absolute sovereign
freedom. 5. The cause to be tried; and that is, the works of men,
what they have done and whether it be good or evil. By their works men
shall be justified or condemned; for though God knows their state and
their principles, and looks chiefly at these, yet, being to approve himself
to angels and men as a righteous God, he will try their principles by their
practices, and so will be justified when he speaks and clear when he
judges. 6. The issue of the trial and judgment; and this will be
according to the evidence of fact, and rule of judgment. All those who have made
a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell, shall then be
condemned with their infernal confederates, cast with them into the lake of
fire, as not being entitled to eternal life, according to the rules of life
laid down in the scripture; but those whose names are written in that book
(that is, those that are justified and acquitted by the gospel) shall then
be justified and acquitted by the Judge, and shall enter into eternal life,
having nothing more to fear from death, or hell, or wicked men; for these
are all destroyed together. Let it be our great concern to see on what terms
we stand with our Bibles, whether they justify us or condemn us now; for the
Judge of all will proceed by that rule. Christ shall judge the secrets of
all men according to the gospel. Happy are those who have so ordered and
stated their cause according to the gospel as to know beforehand that they
shall be justified in the great day of the Lord!
